


Lithium Heart

by hollyhunny411



Category: GOT7
Genre: Alternate Universe - Post-Apocalypse, Alternate Universe - Robots & Androids, Fluff and Angst, Jackson is a survivor, M/M, Mark is a robot, Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-22
Updated: 2016-01-24
Packaged: 2018-04-27 15:40:47
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 10,201
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5054428
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hollyhunny411/pseuds/hollyhunny411
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Most of humanity was gone, but Jackson had found Mark, who was everything he should hate about the world but somehow managed to save him.</p><p>or the one where Mark is an AI and Jackson is the only person who has been around months.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Who are You?

Perimeter check completed.

Time 12:09.

Status: Unchanged.

Next check scheduled 00:00.

 

The risks associated with transitioning down to two mandatory perimeter checks a day were great, but it had been his instruction that after four weeks with no findings the programme should be made less frequent to maximize efficiency elsewhere. So that was what he did, since the reasoning had been sensible enough. 

 

He instead busied himself repairing circuits and replacing wires where possible after they had been damaged in the overhead explosion six weeks ago. The fact they had set up underground in the old car park had meant that fortunately, even after the explosion the area was still inhabitable despite it needing a few urgent ceiling repairs. He was at least thankful that it had meant they wouldn't have to relocate because it had taken three days to get everything there in the first place. They has always intended for it to be something permanent. 

 

'Ugh, Fuck' a small whisper cried from above.

'Ow, ow, ow...' whatever it was kept getting closer 'Wait, What is this?'  
He stood up quickly, not having been noticed yet. The visitor who - it was now evident- was a small man, probably in his early twenties, carrying a large machete and a small handgun which remained holstered on his right thigh. In the light pouring through from the entrance it was obvious he has suffered a substantial cut to his left hand which was creating a small pool of red on the grey concrete floor. 

'Do you need help?' he asked gently.

 

The other boy jumped anyway having been startled by his appearance, holding the machete in front of his body now despite his inability to wield it properly whilst injured. Undeterred by the front the other was putting up, he continued

'There are bandages here. If you wanted, I could help you. There's nothing to stop you just taking them but it'll be much harder for you to do it yourself considering you're essentially down a hand.'

'Who are you?' was all the boy could manage, still standing with his guard up.

'Why does it matter if I'm offering my help?' He still had the obvious advantage of being partially obscured by the dark further into the car park but he could only help if the other boy agreed to being helped and if he could see him clearly now, he probably would not. 

'Okay, but don't expect me to stay, and I'm not looking for any tag-alongs. I've had enough of those in the past' 

'Understood' He said formally, turning around to walk over to the shelf where they had stuffed away a small portion of medicines and bandages back when they first found the place. He pulled out a short length of bandage sealed in a little plastic bag. When he walked back over to the boy he had settled himself on a chunk of concrete that had fallen after the explosion, holding his palms together tightly. 

 

He knelt down in front of the brunette reaching out to touch his hands cautiously moving them apart to look at the cut. It was deep, but it wasn't wide so he ran a little of the leftover water from an old bottle over his palm, shifting some of the blood which had gathered there.

'So, what's your name?' He asked, filling the time whilst he opened out the bandage. 

'I'm Jackson' He nodded. Glad that Jackson had lent him something to ease the tension. Even still he kept his head bowed, focused on his work.  
He worked quickly after that, pulling the bandage tightly around the other's palm before tying it over the cut. 

'Ahh' Jackson winced, bringing his free hand up to place it over his own, squeezing it lightly. 

'It's okay, it's done now' He said, moving his hands back into his lap. 

'Thanks. It's really not my style to come barging into other people's places, if I had known anyone was here I wouldn't have run through here. Sorry about that. So what's your name?' Something like dread struck him then but he replied honestly anyway,

'I don't have a name' And it wasn't that he couldn't lie, just that he disliked it in general because of how frequently it lead to misunderstandings. He had hoped Jackson wouldn't ask. 

'What do you mean you don't have a name?' Jackson responded clearly confused.   
He chose then to look up at his new visitor, and he jumped up, pulling away from him as he had expected. 

 

'I'm sorry. I just wanted to help'.


	2. Safety

'What do you mean help?' Jackson said accusingly, his back towards the exit, keeping a steady distance between the two of them. 

'Wait.' Jackson was stepping back again. 'It's not what you think, It's different. I'm different' There was something like sincerity on his face, but Jackson couldn't bring himself to believe it. 

'You're all built the same. Just because you haven't corrupted yet, doesn't make you different' Jackson was furious. At himself, at the situation, and at his fucking hand because if it hadn't hurt so bad he would never have gotten into this situation in the first place. 

'How many AI models have you seen since the start?' he asked, his tone still calm.

'Enough' If Jackson was honest, he couldn't really remember himself.

'How many that looked like me?' he asked pleadingly. Jackson stopped, looking intently at the other now he had moved out into the light of the entryway. His frame was long and slim, hidden underneath a shirt that was at least two sizes too big and he had a face that was pale and gentle. His hair was pale too, scattering itself messily across his forehead. The others he had seen were all free of accessories like hair and piercings; instead they were pumped full of muscles and had dark eyes. On the other hand he was feminine in a way that some people might have thought was beautiful before, except that someone had gouged out sections of his left cheek and replaced them with LEDs and along his neck they had laid thin wires that ended underneath his jaw and above his collarbones where they ran back under his skin uncomfortably. And he reminded Jackson of one of them, even if his face was placid and friendly.

'I'm different.' He repeated, even more softly than he had said it the first time, and despite all the cold and mechanical blues and greys Jackson believed him enough that he wanted to stay. 

'At least tell me your name.' Jackson said, his shoulders relaxing.

'I really don't have one, just my model name. AI-FREXP-MRK3.4. No-one gave me a real name.' Jackson thought that it should be his own job to give himself a name, but he remembered that he probably wasn't making his own decisions until recently.

'Call yourself Mark. It's easy, it's in the name.' Jackson felt better joking around him, conversation always flowed easier when Jackson could make light of things. He had missed that. 

'Mark.' He said. And he said it again and again, until he looked up at Jackson smiling. 'Nice to meet you, my name is Mark.' he recited bowing slightly. Jackson caught himself smiling too, bowing back. 

 

Everything was easier after that. Jackson sat quietly whilst Mark changed his bandages again, and when Mark suggested that he stay for the night to recover he agreed. Mark still had some blankets left over from a previous stay, so Jackson didn't ask and instead he laid down a comfortable distance from where Mark was sitting now. After watching Mark work for hours from a distance Jackson decided to move. Now or Never. 

 

He lifted up his backpack over his shoulder softly, cradling his hand. He moved softly away from the light of Mark's work towards the cold of the outside exit stopping after hearing someone talking from behind him. He turned around looking back over at the place where the noise had come from. 

 

It was a small monitor, half obscured by Mark's head, showing a young man with round rimmed glasses speaking directly to the camera. Mark watched the screen fondly bringing a finger up to touch the face of the boy on the screen, a sad smile forming on his face. He felt the loss then, the emptiness of the huge car park with just Mark, without the boy that Mark had lived with and so he walked back again to where his blankets were piled up in the corner and pulled them all together.  
He settled that night on the edge of the lamps reach, feeling safer than he ever had since he had been out on his own.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this one took so long, I'll try and get the next part up quicker. :)


	3. Somewhere New

Perimeter Check Completed  
Time 00:09  
Status: One passive being within perimeter  
Next check scheduled 12:00

 

He had left Jackson early this morning to complete his perimeter check with had been uneventful except from Jackson's arrival the night before. When he got back Jackson was still sleeping on the edge of his work area wrapped in all of Jinyoung's old blankets. He looked more relaxed now than he had sleeping all the way out in the dark corners of the car park and Mark wondered if maybe Jackson was afraid of the dark. He wondered other things too, like if this might mean that Jackson would stay for longer, but he didn't let himself get hopeful. Jinyoung had told him that other people might not feel safe around him, and so he had never expected anyone to stay in the first place.

 

He pulled out the plugs from the overhead floodlights, pulling down his shirt neck and fixing himself to the power supply. The fact that the mains power was still active here was the whole reason they had picked this place to begin with. He knew though that charging was unattractive at best, and he was thankful that Jackson had managed to fall asleep, because Jackson didn't need another reminder that he was synthetic. In fact Mark really just wanted him to forget.

 

Jackson didn't wake up until early the next afternoon, gathering himself together sleepily.

'Morning' Mark said, not moving from his position in front of a broken monitor a few feet away.  
He saw Jackson jump slightly from the corner of his eye before relaxing again, presumably having remembered where he was. 

'Oh, yeah, hi' He replied groggily. 

'The bleeding has stopped. I can change your bandage again before you go if you like.' Jackson turned to look at him now,

'Go?' He asked, confusion evident on his face. 'Yeah, Yeah that would be good.' He corrected himself quickly. Mark attributed his confusion to tiredness and got up, rummaging again for bandages and choosing to ignore it entirely. He peeled away the old bandage watering down the dried blood which had set it in place. Jackson protested a little with small sighs and heavy breaths until it was completely removed. 

'Who was he?'  
Mark paused, looking up from Jackson's hand to his face.

'The guy who stayed here before me, I mean. If it were just you, you wouldn't need food or bandages right?' Mark didn't realise he had been holding back, but maybe Jinyoung was something he hadn't been ready to share.

'His name was Jinyoung' He said, continuing to wrap up Jackson's palm.

'How did he meet you?' 

'He didn't, not really. He developed me, from something he worked on before. Fully functional android girls for lonely men. He talked about the project sometimes, always said it was a waste of the technology he had made but that at the time he needed money and "sex sells". I was his own project, to keep developing the learning aspect of his AI programme.'

'So he created you?' Jackson was trying hard to follow, still not fully awake and looking for confirmation. 

'Yes, It was him.'

'But he looked so young.' Jackson let his sentence trail off at that, looking away. Mark didn't know what he could have meant, the two had never met Jackson couldn't known what Jinyoung looked like. 

'Looked?' Mark questioned. 

'Oh, well last night when I couldn't sleep I saw you looking over some stuff. That was him right, the boy in the videos?' Jackson was looking at the ground awkwardly, rubbing his palms together lightly. 

'Yeah. Those were just old video logs about how his research was going. I kept them on the system after. I wasn't really sure what to do without him here, so I was reviewing them.' 

'Why don't you come on a run with me?' Jackson suggested. Mark could sense the pity in his tone but he didn't get long to consider it before Jackson was talking again.

'I need some food and I could restock your bandages before I go.'  
It was a reasonable request, and his next perimeter check was still hours away so it made sense to go out and at least see if he could salvage some more repair components.

'Okay' he agreed. 

'Okay' Jackson repeated, pausing 'Cool, let me pack my kit and we'll go'. He ran back over to the mess of blankets and clothes stuffing things in his rucksack and grabbing his knife in his free hand. 

 

The rest of the afternoon was spent walking in and out of buildings and wrecks surrounding the car park where they had set up. Jackson showed Mark what to look for and what to throw away, before letting him go off and search different rooms, until he had collected enough cans to fill the bag Jackson had given him. They had stopped to count stock in a basement floor livingroom half a mile from home when they heard it. The sky roared as it flew overhead and soon after the sound of three explosions from further off was paired with the rumbling of the ground underneath them. The upper floors threatening to collapse under the stress of it all. 

 

'It fell close by' Jackson said still standing stiffly in the middle of the room, looking at the ceiling.

'It's stopped now though, we should go.' They climbed back up the staircase, and out through the window they had broken on the way in. The dust outside was settling around their feet once they were outside, some of the high rises having lost floors or been grounded altogether. The debris looked to be worsening in the direction of home. Home. That's where the explosion had come from. Mark broke out into a run, keeping pace all the way to the car park, letting Jackson trail behind. There was nothing left. The whole ground floor had fallen completely, covering all of their basement home in a layer of heavy concrete and steel wires which were jutting out at ugly angles. He sat down in front of the broken ticket machine, running calculations in his head. He couldn't lift it himself, not enough of it anyway. Even if he could, there would be no roof and all his repairs until now had been worthless. 

 

Jinyoung. Jinyoung was gone. 

Jackson had caught up now, bent over coughing and heaving.   
'Are...You...Okay?' Jackson said through heavy breaths, looking down at him with concern. 

'It's gone.' That was the only response he could manage before Jackson was sitting down beside him, pulling Mark into his chest. 

'Everything he made is gone.'

'You're not.' Jackson replied quickly.

'Jinyoung is gone.' He said finally. Jackson apparently had no response to that and minutes passed silently before Jackson plucked up the courage to speak again.

'What happened to Jinyoung?' he asked, his voice wavering slightly.

'He died.' Mark admitted solemnly. 'In an earlier explosion, some debris trapped his legs. I tried to move it but his leg was wounded. He lost blood too fast and I couldn't stop it. Now the last part of him is in a broken computer and I can't get to it and now he's gone.' 

'I'm sorry.' was all Jackson could say, shock written all over his face. He squeezed Mark's shoulder's tightly before letting him go and standing up, dusting off his jeans. He held his hand out to Mark.

'Let's go. There's nothing here for us anymore.'

 

He was right. Mark grabbed his hand, pulling himself up from the ground, throwing his bag back over his shoulder. They would find somewhere new. They had to.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about the wait, this is still being written as I put it up, hope you can stick with it.


	4. Running Away

Jackson didn't quite know where to go to begin with, he just wanted to take Mark away from that place, because he knew how it felt to lose people. So he just let them trek through buildings on the main streets to the north, the two finding enough food to survive on and at one point even managing to rip down the ugliest curtain Jackson had ever seen, so Jackson had some sort of bedding. Mark was quiet still, only talking to tell Jackson what he had salvaged at the end of the day. It felt like Mark was far away again, detached from the emotion he had shown Jackson before. It was four days later before they had gathered enough supplies to rest for a while. Jackson sat down in the middle of the dirty white hallway where they had been taking stock, sighing deeply. 

'You didn't have to come.' Jackson said to the other who was still standing against the wall in the hallway, looking at some tins of soup that were now piled together on the floor.

'If you had really wanted to stay I would have left you there.' The silence was frustrating and he was about to leave Mark behind in the hall again when he spoke up

'I wanted to leave, I just wanted him to come with me.' 

'I know.' Jackson said, heat rising up in him 'Do you think I don't know that? We've all lost people. Why do you think I carry this fucking thing around?' he was gesturing towards the black sunhat tied to his rucksack. 'I sure as hell wouldn't wear it.' He wasn't trying to yell, but he was anyway and the look on Mark's face was enough to make him immediately feel bad. 

'Look I'm sorry I just-'

'What was her name?' Mark said, cutting off his apology. His face was filled with curiosity and Jackson couldn't help but indulge him even though he had pushed it out of his mind until now.

'He.' Jackson corrected him softly. 'His name was Youngjae. We stuck together after everything. I didn't know him before, but he was as good as family to me.' Jackson said the words as though that explained it, but living with someone in a wasteland made you more than family, in a way he couldn't explain to Mark, a way he might not understand.

'He was a great singer.' Jackson mused 'He told me he could play piano too and I believed him, but we never found one for him to play. He wasn't a great climber though, and he complained a lot that his feet hurt. I even taught him English some nights as if it would help now anyway, the way things are. He was slower than me Mark, but I never meant to leave him behind. I hope he knew that.' Jackson stared down at the carpet picking at the individual strands of wool, his eyes heavy.

'I'm sure he did know. If he felt the same way about you that you did about him I'm sure he trusted you until the end.' Mark was sliding down the wall beside him until he was sitting by his side resting his hand on Jackson's knee.

'Thanks' Jackson said looking up at Mark and smiling sadly. 

'I'll stay with you.' Mark said, looking into Jackson's eyes. 'I will.' He reaffirmed.

Jackson just nodded, wiping at his eyes again. 'I'm tired tonight, let's call it a day.' He felt that tonight, he could afford to rest for a while.  
He woke up before sunrise the next morning, turning around underneath the heavy curtain that had made its way on top of him during the night. His backpack was sitting beside him, neatly refilled with all of the supplies he had counted out last night. 

 

'Morning.' Mark said from the other end of the hallway where he was stuffing things back into his backpack.

'Morning' Jackson smiled, lifting off the curtain and grabbing the corners of it, attempting to fold it back up so they could repack it. 

'Are we ready to go? Jackson asked once he had finished wrestling with the rolled up curtain and tied it to his backpack.

'Yeah, everything is packed.' Mark replied. Jackson threw his things over his shoulder, holding open the door at the end of the hall.  
'Let's Go.'

 

\---

 

'Agh, Fuck' Jackson grabbed at his leg, rolling around on the now solid ground that was underneath him. He heard the soft sound of Mark landing, presumably feet first, nearby and running over to him. He was still cursing and yelling although even he wasn't really sure what he was saying anymore. It hurt. A hot red pain was working its way up his right leg from the middle of his shin, which felt like it might have split in half entirely. It was definitely broken. 

'It's not broken' Mark chimed from beside him, 'it's probably fractured though.' Had Mark said that out loud? Well regardless, fuck Mark because it was definitely broken, He could feel it. 

'Not. Broken.' Mark said again holding Jacksons face and bringing it closer to his own. 'Don't move.'  
Jackson did what he was told not because he wanted to particularly, but because even if he wanted to, he wasn't sure he could ever get up again. Jackson was pacified considerably by the time Mark got back carrying two sticks in his hands. 

'What are those for?' He wondered aloud. 

'I'm making a leg support.' Mark replied, placing one on either side of Jacksons leg and pulling bandages out of his bag. He worked carefully pulling the bandages tightly around the sticks, keeping them pressed against Jacksons calf.

'That should hold it.' Mark announced, pulling at one of the splints gently.

'Aah, that hurts.' Jackson complained.

'Yeah, that's tight enough.' Mark continued, ignoring Jackson's complaints. 

'You're a real dick now. I can't believe I ever helped you in the first place.' Jackson said with a joking huff.

'It's all just learned behaviours.' Mark responded quickly. 

'What are you trying to say?' 

'There's only one person I could have learned it from.' Jackson pouted at Mark, until both of them started laughing. Mark's laugh was weird and high pitched and filled with all sorts of irregularities but Jackson thought it was oddly charming anyway, because it suited him. 

'Can you move?' Mark asked once the laughter had subsided. 

'I don't know.' Jackson said, looking at his leg solemnly. He'd never been a liability before. 

'Come on.' Mark said, wrapping his arm underneath Jackson's and lifting him up gently until he was standing, albeit with his full weight on Mark. As they started stepping out of the room Jackson had unceremoniously collapsed into he found that it hurt, but in a way that was bearable until they made it down to the ground floor where Mark let go of him briefly to pry open an apartment door. Once they had rejoined, Mark delivered him to a small blue sofa in the corner of the room. 

'Woo' Jackson exclaimed heartlessly as he dropped into the sunken seat, wincing at the pain in his leg.

'Don't worry, you can rest here tonight.'

'What about after tonight?' Jackson countered, 'I can hardly move, we can't go anywhere.' He didn't want to be stuck in the city like this. He watched as Mark pulled tins and boxes out of Jackson's backpack looking for the water he always kept at the bottom of it. They'd been together a month now, maybe longer. Jackson sometimes forgot that Mark wasn't quite the same as him, they'd become so alike. Mark always called it 'learning' but it was more than that, more than just a programme, he was growing and finding himself too. Mark was his own person, and one that Jackson was lucky to have.

'Here.' Mark said, throwing the bottle up to Jackson, snapping him out of his daze.

'Thanks' Jackson replied, unscrewing the bottle and sipping the water whilst Mark spoke to him.

'It'll be another month at least before you're healed now. We won't go far, and you won't leave that couch for at least a week. We have enough food to keep you going between now and then.' It felt strange listening to Mark take on an authoritative tone, but as always he was right. Jackson couldn't move and so he collapsed down on to the sofa lifting his left leg up on to the couch before struggling awkwardly with his new splint, groaning loudly. 

'Can you help?' Jackson asked, embarrassed by his inability to move on his own.

'Sure.' Mark said, before even turning around. He stood up, moving over to Jackson's makeshift cast and resting it on the arm of the sofa. 'Try and keep it elevated.' He commented before returning to the floor where he was opening out the old curtain to make up a bed. 

'This sucks.' Jackson said, staring up at the paint peeling away on the ceiling. 'Plus there are no pillows for my head.' Jackson whined.

'What do you want me to do about it?' Mark asked, 'hold it up?'. The question itself was rhetorical but Jackson couldn't help himself.

'Kind of?' 

'What?' Mark replied, clearly unsure if he was being serious or not.

'Just come sit over here you idiot.' Jackson was patting the space beside his head on the sofa, his eyes already closed. Jackson felt the cushion underneath his head sink as Mark slipped into the seat beside him a few seconds later. 

'Is this okay for you?' Mark asked, unsure of what he was meant to be doing.

'Yeah.' Jackson replied, scooting back until his head was resting on Mark's lap. Mark was more comfortable than he had expected. He laid there for a long time, just thinking. 

'Do you think after this we could look for somewhere more permanent?' He heard Mark say softly, his voice low and sweet. 'Mhm' Jackson heard himself mumble in agreement before he fell asleep with Mark's hands through his hair and his voice in his ear.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really hope people want to keep reading, I'm trying to update as often as possible. These two are just so cute :)


	5. The Green Belt

Perimeter Check Complete.

Time 13:11.

Status: No threats detected.

Next Check Scheduled 01:00.

 

Mark set off back to their temporary home. He had set up the perimeter during their first week in the apartment. The new route took longer than the last, mostly because the area surrounding them now was full of debris that made it harder to negotiate. He had expected to find Jackson still lying on the couch where he had been when Mark left, but instead he found him fumbling around in the kitchen on the new crutch he had made for himself. He was leaning over into the lower cupboards where Mark had stacked the food they were rationing.

'Looking for anything?' He piped up from the doorway.

'Uh, no' Jackson responded, hopping as best he could back to the couch embarrassed at having been caught.

'Kidding. What do you want?' He asked, crouching down in front of the cupboard Jackson had left open in his haste.

'Are there crackers left?' Jackson asked, leaning over to try and see in the cupboard.

'There's a couple.' Mark said, picking up the almost empty packet and throwing it over to the couch where it landed on Jackson's chest with a soft thud. Jackson peeled into the packet happily crumbs falling on to the floor beside him. It had been three weeks since Jackson's leg had been injured and Mark could see that he was trying desperately to get back on his feet. Mark was hoping it would happen soon too. Jackson was asleep when they came through yesterday, but Mark had seen the first tank drive through the city yesterday. It meant the bombs were over now, but that wasn't reassuring. The city would be going through a 'cleansing' soon. He had seen it happen before. The foot patrols would weed out the last survivors in the city before they started building a new hive from the city's ashes. They wouldn't be safe anymore. Jackson wouldn't.

'Mark c'mere.' Jackson was waving his arms wildly in his direction beckoning him to come over.

'What's up?' He sat down on the couch in the space where Jackson had lifted his legs before he promptly dropped them back down into Mark's lap. 

'Where should we go, when we leave here? I want to leave the city, it's suffocating here.' Jackson questioned, leaning his back against the arm of the chair to face Mark better. 

'If we keep North we'll leave the city soon won't we?' Mark asked, being at the disadvantage of never having left the city.

'Yeah, it takes us out to a green belt. They even have one of those fancy resorts where all the businessmen would buy wood cabins to 'escape the city life.' We were headed there, me and Youngjae, before I met you.'

Mark was quiet for a long time.

'And you still want to go there?' Mark cut through the silence that had been created.

'Well, yeah. There's a river and plenty of wildlife and I bet they haven't wasted supplies bombing places that don't have high population densities, so they might have roofs still.' He was so relieved. Jackson wanted to get away too, which saved all the trouble of having to convince him to leave the place behind.

'Okay.' Mark said quickly.

'Okay?' Jackson replied excitedly.

'Yeah, let's get out of the city. Sunday. You need to be ready though, I can carry both the bags but if you can't walk it won't matter.' Jackson was listening intently as Mark spoke, his eyes wide. 

'I can do it.' He nodded confidently.

'Then that's what we'll do.'

 

\---

 

Jackson was a fighter if nothing else. They had set off as the sun rose that morning hoping to make good use of the daylight but after no more than two hours Jackson was limping heavier than ever and after four their rests were longer than their walks with Jackson looping his arm around Mark's neck for support. When the dark finally started to set in Jackson agreed to stop for the night in the suburbs outside the city. The houses were all at least partially grounded, and instead Mark made a bed in a small shed that had somehow been left completely intact. Jackson complained that his legs hurt and that it smelled like dirt but he fell asleep easily anyway, wrapped in the old curtain like a small child. Mark thought a lot during the night about the reasons why Jackson deserved to be safe out in the countryside; one of them being how he had woken up that morning still excited to go despite his injured leg and lack of sleep.

Eight miles out of the suburbs where they had slept however, Jackson sat down without warning in the middle of the road. 

'I've had enough.' Jackson whined sadly, pouting at Mark from his new resting spot.

'I know, but we can't stay here. Look around.' Mark gestured, arms wide, to their surroundings which were constructed of long fields of grass stretching in every direction out from the road they had walked along.

'I can't walk anymore, I'm sorry.' Jackson was sincere when he spoke, but they really couldn't stay here. It was too exposed. 

'Well that's a shame.' Mark said nonchalantly moving over to bend down at Jackson's side. Jackson had barely turned to face him, his mouth agape, before Mark had hooked one   
arm underneath his knees and the other behind his back, lifting him up in one fluid motion. 

'Hey!' Jackson yelled, attempting to wiggle free from Mark's arms for a few seconds before giving up entirely laughing at the stupidity of the situation he was in. He let out a high pitched giggle as Mark started moving down the road again with Jackson in his arms. 

'What is this, Superman? Put me down, Clark Kent.' Jackson clearly thought it was a good joke, but Mark was completely lost. He released him anyway, feet first onto the ground his hand lingering on Jackson's back to make sure he didn't fall over. Jackson looked up at him then, his face still beaming. Mark smiled too, and they stood there quietly until Jackson's smile turned into something softer that made Jackson look less like a roaring fire and more like a gentle candlelight. Mark broke their gaze then, tugging slightly at Jackson's wrist.

'Come on then, before I have to pick you up again.'

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was kind of a short one, and it was mostly travelling stuff, but it's getting to wrapping up point soon. I'm excited to get it finished. Keep writing to me about this AU I love to hear what people have to say :)


	6. Synthetic

It was around five when they arrived at the clearance for the resort. A huge metal sign reading 'Clearwater Getaway' greeted the two of them before giving way to reveal ten or so wooden cabins, all complete with doors and roofs. Jackson had totally forgotten the pain rooted in his leg as he ran out into the clearance. It was perfect. The river ran within walking distance and the trees were thick surrounding them. It felt safe, as if they were completely detached from the city ruins they had run from. He picked out the cabin closest to the river, getting to the steps before recalling the fact his leg was a dead weight and after walking all day the thought of climbing up them was too much to handle. Mark was behind him a few seconds later though, providing him support as he hopped up the three steps to the front door. 

'Can you do the honours?' He gestured towards the locked door in front of them.

Mark was quick to respond leaning down until his eyes were level with the keyhole and fiddling around with the lock until it clicked open and he had pushed the door out of the way for Jackson.

'Home sweet home.' He announced, letting himself collapse down into the couch just past the door. He stayed there for a long time trying to gather the courage to push himself around the cabin a little to investigate. Once he finally opened his eyes again, pushing up off of the couch he found that the cabin itself was even better than he had expected. Firstly; there were no stairs Other than that, he had a real double bed, a gas cooker and the previous owner had even left some tins of soup amongst other things that they would likely no longer make it back for. Mark was busy putting rations away into cupboards and organising old belongings in the kitchen when Jackson had finished looking around.

'There's a huge bed here.' Jackson announced excitedly.

'I know, I had a look. It'll be great for your leg.' Mark replied, still busy with dumping out old wrappers and rotten foods. Once he finished, he turned to Jackson again,

'Do you mind if I go out and set a perimeter tomorrow?' Jackson could tell he was still cautious about leaving him on his own but despite the pain, Jackson's leg was almost fully healed and an hour or two alone shouldn't cause any problems. 

'It's fine, I can manage most things on my own anyway but, can we check out the other cabins before you go tomorrow? If this one still had some food and things in it there's a good chance it's not the only one.' Jackson was hoping to pick up some other stuff too, and although in truth he would manage to carry everything easily over the short distance,   
Mark was an expert in picking locks and Jackson hated the quiet of making runs on his own anyway.

'Sure, tomorrow.' Mark answered calmly before looking up at Jackson and smiling reassuringly.

'Great, well I think I'm going to try out my new bed for real now, Goodnight.' He smiled back at Mark before turning around and limping down the hall to the bedroom, where he collapsed onto the bed falling into a deep sleep the second his head hit the pillow.

 

The search of the remaining cabins was quick and painless, the pair returning with two bags full of food and another filled with three or four shirts and a winter jacket allowing the two of them to change for the first time since their stay in the car park. Once Mark was satisfied Jackson had made it back home again he headed out to plan a perimeter leaving Jackson alone in the cabin.

As soon as Mark's head had moved a safe distance from the window Jackson burst into life. It was a dumb idea, but he wanted Mark to know that he appreciated him for sticking by his side, even when it would have been much easier to leave him behind. Jackson wasn't an interior genius, but he laid out the few bright pillows he had taken from five and the candles from three and even hung up the landscape from eight in place of the old family portrait in the living room. He even replaced the curtains with the worlds ugliest curtain that had managed to stick with them. Which, if he did say so himself, was now looking even uglier due to the fact it ran twice as long as the window and pooled on the floor underneath. It was gaudy and unorganised, but it was home. 

Emptying the cans from Mark's bag led him to find a pair of rounded glasses he recognised as Jinyoungs, from when he had accidentally caught a glimpse of him on the tiny tablet screen from over Mark's shoulder. He decided he would sit them on the bedside table beside Youngjae's sun hat, so they both had a part of them laid out there. The hat reminded him of something good now, after he had taken time to heal. It was no longer loss or guilt he saw when he looked at it, it was Youngjae's laugh or his voice when he sang or even the soft warm feeling of his hand in Jackson's own when it was cold out. His memories had stopped hurting him now and he hoped, when he looked over at the wiry black frames of Jinyoung's glasses, that Mark's had stopped hurting him too.

 

'Jackson?' Mark had arrived back home walking through to the bedroom where Jackson had somehow fallen asleep. 'There you are. I see you decorated.' Jackson rubbed his eyes, nodding slightly. 'It's nice, good to see the curtain made the cut.' 

'It would have been a tragedy if it hadn't.' He retorted. Jackson was laughing at the ridiculousness of the whole conversation. Three days ago Jackson wasn't sure if he would be able to get away from the city, and now here he was celebrating over the curtain change. 'I wanted it to remind us of home.' Jackson admitted, blushing slightly.

'I like it. It'll make a good home.' Mark reassured him. I'll start heating some food, come through once you're awake. With that Mark left Jackson alone in his bedroom, where Jackson dragged himself up out of bed and fixed his hair before moving through to the kitchen where Mark was watching over a tiny pot. 

'I left Jinyoung's glasses out too, In case you needed them.' Jackson said, fidgeting with his hands underneath the counter. 

'Thanks for keeping them safe.' Mark's smile was sad but genuine and Jackson was relieved that he had done the right thing. 

'Hey, uh, Tonight, would you maybe come to talk to me? It was kind of weird last night, having no one to talk to.' Jackson was never usually the shy one, but he didn't want Mark to misunderstand. He was just lonely without Mark's voice to send him to sleep, and really it was Mark's fault he had learned to rely on him in the first place. 

'I don't see why not. Are you sure you want me there though?' Mark asked, 'I thought you were actually looking forward to having a bed of your own.'

'I was. Turns out it's not that fun.' Jackson admitted. 'So, I'm prepared to take you back.' He joked. Mark laughed lightly, 

'Alright then. I suppose I could join you.' 

'Okay, good.' Jackson smiled before turning to leave, 'C'mon we can unpack the clothes before bed. I'll let you pick shirts first.' 

 

Mark was an awful picker. He chose a plain black shirt that matched his now off-white one and an awful yellow button up that made Jackson wish he hadn't let him pick in the first place. They made two separate piles at the bottom of the wardrobe folding them neatly before Jackson settled into the bed, Mark sitting comfortably beside him.

'Mark' Jackson said, looking up him from his position underneath the covers, 'do you still miss him?'

'Who, Jinyoung?' Mark replied, his voice as calm as ever. Jackson just nodded. 'I miss him sometimes, yeah. I miss that he helped me through those times when I was lost, but I can definitely manage on my own now. Do you still miss Youngjae?' Mark looked into Jackson's eyes as he sent the question back to him, trying to gage his reaction. 

'I think I might always miss Youngjae a little. Because I loved him, and because I left without him, when I should have stayed.' Jackson tossed around a little under the covers. He wanted to be honest, but Mark's unresponsiveness was making him uneasy and so he stopped. 

'What happened?' Mark said, prompting him to continue.

'It was early on. We were in another city back then, one that they had started colonising. We were trying to leave. We ran into a live minefield that they had set up to trap people in, the streets were full of reburied proximity mines, which we didn't know until Youngjae got too close to one. I was far enough ahead that all that hit me was debris, but Youngjae, he was really injured. His whole right side was worthless. His arm was broken, his leg was crippled. He asked me to leave him and so I did. I was too selfish to stay with him the way he was.' Jackson was teary eyed, pressing into Mark's side 'You kept me, Even when I couldn't walk you kept me. I miss him, because I know I could have saved him.' Jackson was really crying now, holding a fistful of Mark's shirt with his head on Mark's chest. Mark just held him silently until his crying had mostly stopped and he was lifting his head to wipe the tears from his eyes.

'Thank you' Jackson whispered into Mark's chest, allowing his hand to slip underneath Mark's shirt, moving his hand in slow, gentle strokes upwards until his fingers brushed past something cold and metallic. 

'Yeah, uh, okay... yeah, that's uhm...' Mark shifted uncomfortably away from Jackson's hand. It struck Jackson then that he had never actually seen Mark in anything other than that shirt. 

'What are you afraid of?' Jackson asked looking deeply into Mark's dark eyes. Above anything else he wanted Mark to feel comfortable with him. Mark shook his head.

'It's ugly, if you saw it you wouldn't feel the same around me, I'm not natural.' Mark's words tumbled out, his arms folding over his chest defensively. 

'Look, hey- Mark, look at me.' Jackson said, unfolding Mark's arms slowly, keeping his hands on his wrists. 'You're not ugly.' Jackson said the words slowly, making sure to pronounce each one carefully for Mark to hear. 'You're not ugly.' He repeated. Mark nodded, unsure of what else do say. Jackson released his wrists, collapsing down beside Mark again before curling up into his side and slipping his hand back underneath his shirt, letting it come to rest beside the cold metal ring on Mark's left side. He left it there until he could feel Mark's breathing relax again. 'You're not ugly.' Jackson said one last time, unsure if the words had even reached Mark's ears before he settled into a comfortable sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry if this one felt like it didn't really fit the characters well, or that it moved too fast but it's 5am and I really needed to write something so here it is. Let me know what you think. I'll get back on track with the normal story stuff next chapter, this one was just really cute and fun :)


	7. Honesty Above All Else

Perimeter Check Completed  
Time 6:07  
Status: No Threats Detected  
Next Check Scheduled: 18:07

Jackson made it easy to miss his company. The feeling of warmth radiating from his arms slung over Mark's chest carelessly in the night time and the sound of his steady breathing had almost convinced him not to leave that morning. Almost. Instead it just made him sigh deeply as he wriggled out from underneath Jacksons arms, careful not to wake him up. 

 

He took it upon himself to go search out at the entrance for cars before Jackson woke up. He wished things were easier for Jackson's sake more than his own. Mark sat down in the back of a truck, which was one of the only two cars parked on the small dirt path, pulling some cables out of his pockets. He was always discrete when he needed power in the city, with so many places that connected to the main circuits it was easy. Now he was sitting hidden in the back of a truck with two car batteries beside him, as if it was the biggest shame he could imagine- and maybe it was. It was his dirty secret, and the only secret he had ever kept.

 

An hour later he returned to find Jackson in the kitchen awake and making himself breakfast. 

'Hey.' Jackson said, not turning away from the stove.

'Hey' Mark replied 'What are you making?' It smelled like something sweet in the air, but Mark had never been very good at smells and so he couldn't place it any further than that. 

'It's just soup. Tomato. It used to be my favourite on a cold morning.' Jackson smiled, turning to pull a bowl from one of the cupboards and pouring the now steaming liquid into  
it. 'Anyway.' He continued, walking over to sit down on the couch 'What shall we do today, since we're free for the first time?'  
Mark didn't really know what they should do and so he just shrugged, waiting for Jackson to offer up an idea instead. 

'Let's go fishing then!' Jackson piped up reliably moments later. 'There's a fishing rod in the cupboard. My dad taught me a long time ago, we can take it down to the river after breakfast. I'll teach you.' Mark knew it wasn't a skill he would ever need, but nonetheless the bright look on Jackson's face at the thought of being able to teach someone made him excited to learn.

 

As it turned out, there wasn't much to fishing. Jackson set up the fishing rod on the bank, where it stood on its own, occasionally leaning over to recast it. In between throws Jackson sat beside him on the banking, the two of them talking about nothing in particular. Mark felt at ease when Jackson talked, and so he let him talk until it got dark and he found himself lying on his side, eyes focused on Jackson's lips, watching the way the words were formed. Jackson turned his head to face the fishing rod they had long forgotten and sighed deeply

'Looks like we're not catching anything tonight.' He remarked, shifting to stand up and reel in the rod. 'We should throw in the towel tonight, maybe try again tomorrow.' Mark just nodded brightly and from there they walked quietly back up to the cabin, sliding into the bed they had shared comfortably the night before.

 

The week following that day moved comfortably slowly. Jackson taught Mark to play cards and throw bait and make meals that Jackson remembered from being young in his mother's home. They even found a small camera which Jackson was able to find three blank Polaroids for, one of which they used to photograph the cabin, another of which Mark used to photograph Jackson smiling widely, cross-legged on their bed, his mouth open after having been caught mid laugh. He complained stubbornly that it was an awful photo, even pouting cutely so Mark would throw it away. Mark refused anyway and smiled to himself when he found it face down beside the first with the date and 'Jackson' scribbled on the back in small letters. And every night they would fall into bed together comfortably, and every night Mark would sneak out and climb into the back of his dirty truck with any batteries he could find, praying that Jackson would still be fast asleep when he crawled back into his arms in the early hours of the morning.

 

It wasn't until the ninth day that they spent lying together underneath the duvet that Jackson found out.

'Why do you have this anyway?' Jackson asked, running his index finger curiously around the circumference of the metal ring embedded in Mark's chest. 

'It's a port, for charging.' Mark said quietly, feeling defensive of his design.

'Right over your heart?' Jackson questioned, his finger still tracing the small circle. 

'Well, I was based on a human, and, in a way it represents how long I'll live so, it makes sense.' Mark shrugged half heartedly, not wanting to let the conversation fall into uncomfortable territory. But Jackson asked anyway.

'How long will you live? Forever right? As long as we keep the oil in your joints.' He tapped Mark's shoulder playfully a few times waiting for Mark's response. 

'It's more complicated than that.' Mark couldn't help but sound sad when he said it, letting Jackson pick up the implications that went along with it.

'Well, how long then?' Mark felt desperation in Jackson's voice cursing him for making it harder than it had to be. 

'I don't know exactly. I have to stay charged, I'm not invincible. Not as long as I want. Longer than I was ever supposed to get. I'm just a prototype, and there's not much here that has power.' Mark couldn't meet Jackson's eyes as he spoke, opting to stare into his palms instead. 

'How long?' Jackson repeated firmly, his eyes reddening.

'Weeks maybe.' Mark admitted quietly, hoping his words might get lost in the sheets between the two of them. 

 

'Oh.'

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, this one is the penultimate chapter, the final one should be up in a few days. I'm trying to edit it now. I'll also put up an epilogue if people are interested, because I have some more stuff that didn't really fit into the last chapter. You can find me at bellamyandbangtan.tumblr.com


	8. Boyfriends

Jackson didn't sleep much that night, maybe he didn't sleep at all. He couldn't remember. Mark was dying- worse- he knew he was dying and he didn't say anything. Jackson couldn't even look at him. Instead he turned around pulling the duvet over his head, letting tears fall silently into the sheets. He was being pathetic. Of course they wouldn't be together forever, it was ridiculous to think that, but Jackson had let himself believe it anyway and he'd let himself get attached to the boy in the bed beside him. He let himself get attached to the dark eyes he got lost in and the feeling of his skin underneath his fingertips and the way he laughed off beat and even the way the small LED buried in his cheek glowed slightly in the dark because it reminded Jackson that he was still there. He felt helpless, finally giving up on ignoring Mark somewhere in the early hours of the morning while it was still dark and curling back into the warmth of the other boy's chest without saying anything. Glad when Mark kept quiet too, allowing Jackson the time to himself that he needed to figure things out.

 

Jackson loved Mark. Somewhere between four and sunrise Jackson realised that he loved Mark, and he thought maybe it was just the time of day for thinking too much into things, but nine rolled around and Jackson still loved Mark. And at twelve Jackson still loved Mark. And at three, and at five and at ten and then a whole day had slipped away and Jackson still loved Mark - but he could only ever admit it to himself, because as life-like as Mark had become, Mark could never love Jackson. 

 

They spent the days that followed more quiet than they had been, the confession Mark had made still dissipating in the air between them. Jackson didn't mind though. He just wanted to make the most of what they had remaining as friends, so he didn't stay mad at Mark, even though it would have been easy to. They ventured out into the forest looking for game to hunt early on a few mornings, but all they found were old dirt tracks leading to small benches made of fallen logs and once even a tiny tree with a plaque underneath that had someone's name inscribed in it. Jackson even went with Mark on his perimeter checks, and even though Mark wasn't listening when he talked because the path they walked was uneven and it gave him a decent excuse to hold on tightly to Mark's sleeve, as if it could stop him from leaving. 

 

'We could just pretend that I'm not dying.' Mark said with a sigh, cross-legged in the middle of their livingroom, as if it were the easiest thing in the world.

'I can't just pretend like this isn't happening.' Jackson replied looking down at Mark from where he was stretched out on the couch.

'Well what would you rather do?' Mark snapped. It wasn't like him to be uneasy, and Jackson realised that maybe Mark wasn't any more prepared than Jackson was. And maybe he could pretend, for Mark's sake. 

'No, Nothing, you're right, let's stop moping. Whatever time we have is more than enough. Let's go.' He smiled in a way that he hoped was convincing and let Mark drag him up and out of the door excitedly. Mark was just looking for everything to keep moving the way it had and Jackson wanted to give him that much. So Jackson followed Mark out into the trees again their initial walk dissolving into a tiptoe 'just in case there were any deer', as Mark had whispered quietly into his ear about twenty yards back from where Mark had now stopped them in the middle of a small clearing. 

 

'Did you love Youngjae?' Mark was so quiet that at first Jackson thought he had misheard it until he looked up at Mark, whose face somehow confirmed what he had asked.

'Yeah, I suppose I did. We never said it, but I think we loved each other, I think I loved him.' Jackson answered honestly, unsure of what Mark wanted to hear.

'Did you, were you two boyfriends then?' Mark continued, stumbling over his words in a way that Jackson had never really heard him do before. 

'Uhm, yeah I guess so.' Jackson was trying to read Mark's expression, but he was looking down at his feet as he talked.

'So did you, uh, have you, well... did you kiss him?' Mark's curiosity wasn't new to Jackson, they often talked openly like this, but Mark had never strayed into anything as personal as this before.

'A few times.' Jackson replied, trying to glean the reasoning behind Mark's questioning, but Mark just nodded before shuffling around silently on his feet, letting minutes pass between them.

'Would you kiss me?' Mark blurted out, no longer whispering, the redness rising in his cheeks. 'I just mean, well, I wondered what it felt like to be kissed. Even Jinyoung sometimes talked about it, and he didn't really like anything but his work. It must mean something to people right?' He was blushing still but had allowed his voice to trail off again as he turned his head back to the floor. 

'You really want to?' Was all Jackson could manage to say in return, his mind blank. Jackson could have sworn he saw Mark's eyes light up as he lifted his head to nod in Jackson's direction but he ignored it. A lump was growing in his throat. What was there to be nervous about? Mark just wanted to know what it felt like. To know why it meant so much to people. It didn't mean anything, it couldn't, not between the two of them. 

 

Jackson shuffled closer to Mark awkwardly, having to tilt his head upwards to touch Mark's lips to his own, pressing them together gently. Mark's lips were soft, even more so than he expected, and it was almost like he was kissing a real person. Almost. Jackson pulled away quickly, trying not to make it awkward between the two of them. He looked up to gauge Mark's reaction, smiling gently when he saw that Mark's eyes had been closed. Mark stayed silent like that for long enough that Jackson was beginning to wonder if he had done something wrong, but then Mark looked down at him smiling widely;

'You are way less clumsy when you kiss.' Mark mused.

'Thanks for the compliment.' Jackson returned sarcastically.

 

Mark's smile was beautiful and Jackson thought that he would've been proud to call Mark his boyfriend if he had had the chance. 

 

Mark announced three days after their kiss in the clearing that he wouldn't make it a full tomorrow. And Jackson wouldn't admit it but he followed Mark around like a lost puppy after he heard, full of apologies that Mark didn't need or understand. He couldn't work out how to make it better or even if it was really all for Mark. So he just held his hand when he asked and chased after him and told him how kind he was and how much less lonely he felt and how it wasn't fair, because it wasn't. 

'I was supposed to die first.' Jackson said quietly curled up into Mark's side underneath the covers. 

'Why?'

'Because, I'm made of flesh and bones and one day my body will be too old and broken to work anymore and that's when I'll die, naturally, and you were supposed to be there.' Jackson said practically shouting into Mark's shirt. 

'My body gets worn out too.' Mark explained, running his hand through Jackson's hair. 'Just because it isn't the same as yours, doesn't mean it doesn't suffer. Time rots everything, even if I'm just metal and parts and a silicon heart, doesn't mean I can last forever.'

'I'm sorry.' 

 

When Jackson kissed Mark again that night it wasn't like the last time, he wasn't almost kissing a real person, he was kissing a real person. He was kissing Mark, who was as real in front of him as anyone had ever been. He was funny and kind and interesting and he wasn't just a combination of him and Jinyoung - he was all Mark.

'I love you.' Jackson breathed out between kisses. He knew it was stupid -of course he did- but it didn't matter, not tonight.

'I know.' Mark pulled Jackson into a tight hug, squeezing him until he was laughing and begging to be let go. He fell asleep in Mark's arms that night, trying to forget what might happen to them.

 

He woke up alone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I didn't mean for this to come out so sad. :'(  
> Sorry I took a break over christmas I've had exams, but I'm back to it now.The epilogue will be out soon, hopefully it will be cheerier.  
> Find me at bellamyandbangtan.tumblr.com


	9. Epilogue

Jackson woke up alone, and in fact he barely woke up at all. He tossed and turned for as long as he could trying just to go back to sleep and ignore the empty space beside him. When he finally did sit up in the bed his eyes immediately fell onto the crisp white piece of paper folded up on the dresser, held in place by Jinyoung's old glasses. He wasn't sure if he could read it but he let his hands slide the glasses off of it anyway and carefully unfold it until he could see the scrawls of Mark's handwriting that had been hidden on the inside.

 __Jackson,  
I want you to know that I stayed with you even long after you fell asleep last night. The sun had almost risen when I left, and even then I didn't feel ready to go. There are lots of things that I'm confused about still, but I'm sure that I'll miss you.  
You saved me from the car park that day, I may have been the one patching you up, but you saved me. Even after that. You made me feel at home with you before I really understood what that meant. You made me feel human. I'm lucky to have met you.  
And I'm sorry that I neve said that I loved you too, but I did. I was scared that you might reject me because of what I am or even more than that I was scared that my love had no value but I loved you anyway.  
I want more than anything for you to be safe. Stay here and take care, and don't go 'breaking' anymore limbs unless someone else is there to save you. Thank you for loving me. Stay safe from now on,

Mark

Jackson felt himself smiling like an idiot again but he allowed himself to do it anyway, there was plenty of time to feel lonely in front of him but for now Mark loved him and that was the most valuable thing in the world.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is I guess the real ending. I hope it was good enough, I've had fun writing something longer for once.  
> I'll be back with something new soon or you can always come and find me at bellamyandbangtan.tumblr.com


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